Phase 1: Broad Public and Stakeholder Consultation
Compiled Comments:
Customer Service
The following document contains a compilation of some of the input received from taxicab stakeholders in
Phase 1, including voicemail and comments from Refresher course classes and comments forms. Please note
that:
• The majority of these submissions contain one recommendation which falls into one issue category,
however some comments may contain recommendations outside of the following category.
• In order to protect the anonymity of those who made submissions, identifiers (such as names and
contact information) have been replaced with "***".
• Minor edits have been made to some of the submissions to allow for greater readability.
Other stakeholder and public input is posted online at
http://www.toronto.ca/licensing/taxireview/stakeholder.htm.
Please feel free to contact the review team with any comments or questions.
THE 2 0 1 2 TA X IC A B IN D U S TRY REVIEW
City Ha ll
100 Qu e e n S tre e t We s t
16th Flo o r, We s t To w e r
To ro n to , On ta rio M5H 2N2
w w w .to ro n to .ca /ta xire vie w
Vo ice m a il: 416-338-3095
Em a il: ta xire vie w @to ro n to .ca
TTY: (416) 338-0889
The 2012 Taxicab Industry Review
Compiled Comments: Customer Service
Stakeholder Submissions
• Expensive -> $10 beer, $50 cab (unrealistic)
• Cab should be for everyone but they are only for rich people
• Make starting meter $1.50. Current $4.25 is too high. City to review policy
• I once has a cab that had karaoke in it and that was the best cab I ever had
• Air conditioning should be mandatory
• How do we move forward to better service?
• What better technologies should we look at?
• Internal stakeholders: Need to create driver service standards.
• Internal stakeholders: There are too many dirty cabs and drivers are rude.
• Internal stakeholders: Taxi drivers should have a uniform.
• All cabs should have GPS
• Generic taxicab chit/swipe cord
• Cabs that honk at you to indicate their availability, or 'cruising' slowly beside you
• Standardizing should improve their business. Work on training, cleanliness, affordability,
knowledge, good customer service
• More training during the license period, especially for locations/geography
• Integrated with public transit e.g. more stands at subways, flat rates to transit stations
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The 2012 Taxicab Industry Review
Compiled Comments: Customer Service
• Rather than have taxicabs sit on a taxicab stand at Union Station, there could be electric
signallers to tell circulating cabs when they are requested by customers of upon an
arrival of train. (A study showed that VIA passengers are more likely to take a taxi than
GO passengers.)
• Don't penalize car drivers – let them find parking near downtown, where they can take a
cab
• Rates higher than other cities (e.g. New York)
• Cleanliness
• Knowledge of cab driver
• Drivers talking on Bluetooth in other languages
• Attitude of drivers – refusing short fares (late night mostly, but also day time), drivers
may be seeking a ride close to their homes
• Club owners may want to identify cabs taking home drunk clients for liability purposes
• LCD screens with route info (like NY) + short programs
• Text/online booking is more helpful, the further you are from downtown
• Light sometimes is on, but they have a passenger
• Make it easier to share through "apps" etc, but it's more intimate than sharing space on
a bus
• Good
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The 2012 Taxicab Industry Review
Compiled Comments: Customer Service
• Not head to get a cab / hail
• Very nice dealing with some dispatcher
• Drivers may not know where and how to go places
• Driver was asleep/sleepy
• Have an easier way to complain about one driver
• Debit charges, plus extra time to "warm-up" the machine
• Not all companies offer debit/credit
• Sometimes no change for $20
• Everything should be standardized – no surprises
• Need for public awareness campaign for …?
• Dispatchers should forward you call to drivers
• Standardize the colour/look – You see them easier, a brand for the city
• create a 'boulevard' cab stand in the ent. district
• better experience in the owner's car
• Ensure there there are no sleepy drivers; I had an Ambassador driver who was sleepy.
(NB Ambassadors are sometimes said to be driving more than 12 hours a day, their legal
limit.)
• Using taxicabs as ambassadors of information about the City -> historic sites, share
maps and info
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The 2012 Taxicab Industry Review
Compiled Comments: Customer Service
• Training people on weekends
• Give drivers a binder of info for the car
• Quality of customer service
• Some downtown / ent. District flat rates might be good
• Need to get to cabs being busy at all times
• e-receipts would give complete data for complaint follow-up
• Example of "bugging" meters late at night, allowing cabs in front of club etc.
• Make places for limos and cabs to stage
• In NY, limos compete and are stay nice
• Good concentration, friendliness
• Not on the phone
• Positive attitude
• No charge surprises
• Language barriers – can be part of problem
• UBER and new technologies: home-based businesses need to be regulated
• We like direct contact with drivers, example on their own cell phones
• Elevate the industry to be standardized, part of the Toronto "brand" – a "cool thing" for
the city
• Dress part of driver I.D (photo) I.D on driver
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The 2012 Taxicab Industry Review
Compiled Comments: Customer Service
• Dirty cars
• Unbuckled drivers
• Cultural issues
• Taking direction from females
• Enhancing Customer Service:
• MANDATE POS Machine
• Technology – GPS
• In regards to fare refusal in entertainment district, union station, there should be
marshalling area of cabs at particular times, e.g. 12-4AM.
• Add debit and credit card transaction to passenger Bill of Rights
• Customer Service would be improve if agents were not involved
• Use computerized records from brokerages to assess service
• Better link between taxi and tourism and hospitality
• More cab stands better for public safety and environment.
• Suburbs are served well
• Apps benefit brokerages, will benefit drivers
• People take taxis because they need , wifi will not make people take taxis
• Lower drops would make people take taxis more.
• "• Tourism Toronto is taking people to airport in vans
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The 2012 Taxicab Industry Review
Compiled Comments: Customer Service
• • Used to pick up only at holds
• • Now operating as taxi
• "
• Economic viability- if more cabs less worry fro everyone
• Brokerages should consider new technologies to enhance customer service
• Absolutely forbid them from manipulating or utilizing ANY electronic device AT ALL wile
driving!!!!!
• The biggest complaints I have is the poor cleanliness of most of the cabs I have used as
well as some taxi companies are not maintaining their fleet in what I would consider a
safe and reliable condition.,It is a concern that when I now request a taxi I feel
compelled to state "clean car inside please". That should not be required.
• last night i was waiting two hous to get taxi, this is big city where are the taxi
• On behalf of the HCC on 627 Quuens Quay(intersection is Queens Quay and Bathurst), I
submit that we are concerned with disruption caused by the taxis leading to the Island
Airport. ,Issues are:,1. Safety hazard for children as a result of traffic and speeding
taxis,2. Noise caused by taxi traffic ,3. Unhygienic practices such as drivers urinating
publicly.,4. General congestion -traffic,5. Difficulty in dropping children off to the center
and school, as well as limited access for staff and employees of the center and
school,These are a few of the issues confronting us. We seek remedy to these concerns.
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The 2012 Taxicab Industry Review
Compiled Comments: Customer Service
• Bill of Rights to be removed from the cab.
• Scrap Bill of Rights for passengers. Its full of misconceptions
• Driver should be allowed to get estimated fare up front.
• Meter price should not be increased from what it is, but gas and insurance and lease
should be controlled
• GPS should be mandatory
• We should respect all passengers and that’s how we increase our business.
• Safety shield
• Advance payment system
• Shield mandatory
• Passenger Amenities – no radio
• Payment System – Credit card without fees, Owners not allowed to charge
• Safety of drivers -> like shield in middle
• No Cab chit system. Only debit/credit/cash
• Shield like TTC buses
• Payment System – Regulate transaction fee, Percentage to drivers, monthly rent
• Computer equipment essential (no radio)
• More safe measure should be taken by the government to protect drivers by
formulating drivers demarcation units from the customers
Page 8
The 2012 Taxicab Industry Review
Compiled Comments: Customer Service
• Upfront money for long fares (outside of City), more than $50
• Back shields are good too
• Equip all cabs with GPS
• Wi-Fi, Internet, other equipments
• Customer Service most important
• Visa costs charged to customer
• Ensure that they have back up Visa machines
• Would like to see pre payment system
• Optional credit card payment
• Method of payment
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